I'm working on a poem that's so true, I can't show it to anyone.
I could never show it to anyone.
Because it says exactly what I think, and what I think scares me.
Sometimes it pleases me.
Usually it brings misery.
And this poem says exactly what I think.
What I think of myself, what I think of my friends, what I think about my lover.
Exactly.
Parts of it might please them, some of it might scare them.
Some of it might bring misery.
And I don't want to hurt them, I don't want to hurt them.
I don't want to hurt anybody.
I want everyone to love me.
Still, I keep working on it.
Why?
Why do I keep working on it?
Nobody will ever see it.
Nobody will ever see it.
I keep working on it even though I can never show it to anybody.
I keep working on it even though someone might get hurt.
Six Words By: Lloyd Schwartz yes no maybe sometimes always never
Never? Yes.
Always? No.
Sometimes? Maybe—
maybe never sometimes.
Yes—
no
always:
always
maybe. No— never yes.
Sometimes,
sometimes
(always)
yes. Maybe never . . .
No,
no—
sometimes. Never.
Always? Maybe.
Yes—
yes no
maybe sometimes
always never.
Self Portrait For Ralph Hamilton “I was sitting in her living room,
Looking very hard at the painting I had given her.
I asked her for a knife, and very deliberately
Cut up the canvas.She was furios;
I told her , ‘ I’ll paint you a good one.’
--Every paitning is a self portrait.
I always straighten the pictures on people’s walls.
I live at home,
Painting while my parents are away at work.
I cook their dinner. It’s a compromise,
But it’s the only way I can afford to work;
Better to compromise
My life.
And if I suffer--
So much the better;not
Easy.
They’re amazingly patient—
My mother thinks I’m a ‘great artist.’
My paintings are all over the walls,
Mostly piled up against the window
In the dining room. (The dining room
Hasn’t seen the light of day in three years.)
I read a lot, when I’m not painting,
And play the piano-- badly.
I’m fascinated by words. Some of my paintings
Have words in them: AWAY. . .
GET WELL. In college,
I wrote my autobiography.
I’ve been commissioned to do a portrait - -
I’ve done several;
But I shouldn’t do them,
I don’t know how. Every portrait
Becomes just another painting. . .”
In your self portrait,
The blindsare open, but you are looking
Away; your eyes green, and enormous.
There is a sunny street outside- -
Grey and black shadows cover your face;your mouth
Twisted with irony, otr tenderness’
Refusing to speak.
You say, “ It’s just another painting”
A train dissapearign over a hill;
A burnt-out house; two trucks colliding
In mid-air; Your father;your mother ;a baby; A chair; a hand on a venetian blind… “Every painting is a self-portrait.”
Critic Corner Six Words “It makes me laugh and smile. A whole poem of just six words! I also see our own thought process in it. We all debate things in our lives and we go through this same process when we try to figure out what to do. I laugh because it captures my feelings exactly and at how my debating looks on paper.”
~ Poets Daily True Poem “Whenever we write anything we always risk offending someone. Schwartz’s poem states all we feel when we write a poem. What we write may come from our heart and may be what we feel deep down in our heart and soul but there is always a chance that it hurts someone. It satisfies our spirit when we write down our feelings, even if no one will see it or if someone might get hurt.”
~ Poet Lovers Magazine Self Portrait “This poems talks of our feelings whenever we do something others say we are good at. We always get frustrated and want to tear it up even when others say it is good. I don’t particularly like the last 2 stanzas but I do like the ending line. “Every painting is a self portrait.” In every painting we see parts of the painter come alive. Even in writing novels, essays, or poems. When we make a “work of art” we put a little piece of ourselves into it.”
~ Deep Thinker’s Blog of Poems
POETS ART · Onomatopoeia · Rhyme-In true poem the ends of certain lines rhyme, or sound the same · Alliteration · Metaphor- In self portrait Schwartz compares “you” to a self portrait · Simile · Personification · Hyperbole
Rhyme scheme-
Six words:-abcdef faebdc cfdae ecbfad deacfb bdfeca abedcf
True poem:-abc bc def f g dh ie J d klm no ppq pr f s t s s s usq uvp
Self poprtrait:-abcdg h ij klmlmnopq rstuav wxwyz1 2342w h567890w !@#$%h
Lloyd Schwartz · Lloyd Schwartz was born on November 29,1941 in Brooklyn, New York · He graduated from Queens College of the City of New York in 1962 · Earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1976 · 1944 was awarded the Pulitzer prixe4 for criticism.
I could never show it to anyone.
Because it says exactly what I think, and what I think scares me.
Sometimes it pleases me.
Usually it brings misery.
And this poem says exactly what I think.
What I think of myself, what I think of my friends, what I think about my lover.
Exactly.
Parts of it might please them, some of it might scare them.
Some of it might bring misery.
And I don't want to hurt them, I don't want to hurt them.
I don't want to hurt anybody.
I want everyone to love me.
Still, I keep working on it.
Why?
Why do I keep working on it?
Nobody will ever see it.
Nobody will ever see it.
I keep working on it even though I can never show it to anybody.
I keep working on it even though someone might get hurt.
Six Words By: Lloyd Schwartz
yes
no
maybe
sometimes
always
never
Never?
Yes.
Always?
No.
Sometimes?
Maybe—
maybe
never
sometimes.
Yes—
no
always:
always
maybe.
No—
never
yes.
Sometimes,
sometimes
(always)
yes.
Maybe
never . . .
No,
no—
sometimes.
Never.
Always?
Maybe.
Yes—
yes no
maybe sometimes
always never.
For Ralph Hamilton
“I was sitting in her living room,
Looking very hard at the painting I had given her.
I asked her for a knife, and very deliberately
Cut up the canvas.She was furios;
I told her , ‘ I’ll paint you a good one.’
--Every paitning is a self portrait.
I always straighten the pictures on people’s walls.
I live at home,
Painting while my parents are away at work.
I cook their dinner. It’s a compromise,
But it’s the only way I can afford to work;
Better to compromise
My life.
And if I suffer--
So much the better;not
Easy.
They’re amazingly patient—
My mother thinks I’m a ‘great artist.’
My paintings are all over the walls,
Mostly piled up against the window
In the dining room. (The dining room
Hasn’t seen the light of day in three years.)
I read a lot, when I’m not painting,
And play the piano-- badly.
I’m fascinated by words. Some of my paintings
Have words in them: AWAY. . .
GET WELL. In college,
I wrote my autobiography.
I’ve been commissioned to do a portrait - -
I’ve done several;
But I shouldn’t do them,
I don’t know how. Every portrait
Becomes just another painting. . .”
In your self portrait,
The blindsare open, but you are looking
Away; your eyes green, and enormous.
There is a sunny street outside- -
Grey and black shadows cover your face;your mouth
Twisted with irony, otr tenderness’
Refusing to speak.
You say, “ It’s just another painting”
A train dissapearign over a hill;
A burnt-out house; two trucks colliding
In mid-air;
Your father;your mother ;a baby;
A chair; a hand on a venetian blind…
“Every painting is a self-portrait.”
Critic Corner
Six Words
“It makes me laugh and smile. A whole poem of just six words! I also see our own thought process in it. We all debate things in our lives and we go through this same process when we try to figure out what to do. I laugh because it captures my feelings exactly and at how my debating looks on paper.”
~ Poets Daily
True Poem
“Whenever we write anything we always risk offending someone. Schwartz’s poem states all we feel when we write a poem. What we write may come from our heart and may be what we feel deep down in our heart and soul but there is always a chance that it hurts someone. It satisfies our spirit when we write down our feelings, even if no one will see it or if someone might get hurt.”
~ Poet Lovers Magazine
Self Portrait
“This poems talks of our feelings whenever we do something others say we are good at. We always get frustrated and want to tear it up even when others say it is good. I don’t particularly like the last 2 stanzas but I do like the ending line. “Every painting is a self portrait.” In every painting we see parts of the painter come alive. Even in writing novels, essays, or poems. When we make a “work of art” we put a little piece of ourselves into it.”
~ Deep Thinker’s Blog of Poems
POETS ART
· Onomatopoeia
· Rhyme-In true poem the ends of certain lines rhyme, or sound the same
· Alliteration
· Metaphor- In self portrait Schwartz compares “you” to a self portrait
· Simile
· Personification
· Hyperbole
Rhyme scheme-
Six words:-abcdef faebdc cfdae ecbfad deacfb bdfeca abedcf
True poem:-abc bc def f g dh ie J d klm no ppq pr f s t s s s usq uvp
Self poprtrait:-abcdg h ij klmlmnopq rstuav wxwyz1 2342w h567890w !@#$%h
Lloyd Schwartz
· Lloyd Schwartz was born on November 29,1941 in Brooklyn, New York
· He graduated from Queens College of the City of New York in 1962
· Earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1976
· 1944 was awarded the Pulitzer prixe4 for criticism.
Bibliography
Issue 11 The Cortland Review. 3 March 2010 <http://www.cortlandreview.com/issue/11/schwartz11.htm>.
Poets.Org. 1,2,3,4,5 March 2010 <http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20167>.
These People Lloyd Schwartz Weslyan University Press Middletown,Connecticut Copyright 1973,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981 by Lloyd Schwartz. 3 March 2010 <http://capa.conncoll.edu/schwartz.these.htm#self>.